Found in L.A.: The best flea & farmers markets

The best thing about Los Angeles flea markets and farmers markets is that they’re open year-round.

What also makes them so damn special is that a lot of the produce you’ll find is locally grown and is therefore often reasonably priced and incredibly delicious. As for the thrifted clothes, furniture and accessories… well, you’ve got a lot of L.A. style to choose from.

This post… well, it only scratches the surface of the flea and farmers markets L.A. has to offer, but I couldn’t wait any longer to share photos from the few I’ve had the chance to check out. I’m a little biased toward Silver Lake, but their twice-weekly farmers market it just a mile up the street from me. The novelty of this, as you can imagine, has not worn off.

The Silver Lake Farmers Market is the epitome of a neighborhood market done right. Most of the vendors are regulars, but many of them also switch out a lot, so there’s always something new to check out. I love this spot because you can buy fresh fruit, flowers and vintage clothing all in the same place. It’s been a great way to meet people who live in the neighborhood, and it’s a fun spot to people-watch. (And yes, there are LOTS of hipsters.) Very casual, friendly vibe. It’s open every Tuesday and Saturday.

I also had the chance to check out the Melrose Trading Post in West Hollywood, which is a flea market lover’s dream. You have to pay $3 to get in, but you can literally get lost it’s so huge. The market is open every Sunday, and you can find everything from valuable antiques to what looks like junk out of some guy’s closet.

And back to my neighborhood (because I don’t have to venture very far to get to the good stuff)—the Silver Lake Art, Craft & Vintage flea market is another spot worth checking out every second Saturday of the month. It’s much smaller than the others with a decidedly quirky vibe. It’s also perched just above a community garden, where there are always groups of people getting things done. (There are also chickens… on Sunset Boulevard.)

There are countless others throughout the city, it’s overwhelming. This post could easily have a follow-up with a part two. And part three. And so on. I’m looking forward to checking out more.

Awesome – I need to find a good one here in Northern Virginia but I definitely love the Farmer’s Markets in the area, especially since there are a lot of farms out West, easily accessible to delicious, fresh goods! 🙂 Happy Hump Day Cassie! -Iva

i’ve only been to silver lake once.. and it was at the tail end of our stay in LA.. but it seemed like a nice area. 🙂 i guess each neighborhood has it’s own subculture. the flea markets and farmer’s markets are pretty awesome! i haven’t been to the one in silver lake.. and i’ve wanted to check out the large one in downtown. so far i liked the studio city one. the santa monica one was okay but someone i met at another farmer’s market told me there were 3 vendors that got busted for selling non-organic and claiming that they were.

i think we’ll be back to visit enough and we might just tackle it one neighborhood at a time and check out all the restaurants and cool spots.

I’ve never had flavored honey before! But I would really like to try. Honey was one of those things that we kept meaning to buy but would always forget… and now that we have it, I want to put it on/in everything!